Monday, April 15, 2013

Mike's Jerky recently released some new flavors, and graciously sent samples to us for review. See all of our previous reviews of Mike's Jerky.

This Bacon flavored jerky is actually a beef jerky seasoned to taste like bacon.

Mike's Jerky is a brand of Old World Beef Company based out of Albuquerque, NM. The company was started by Mike and Brenda Grier in 2008. The couple had been making jerky for many years and were always told that they ought to go into business selling it, except they were already busy running an RV dealership. But when the bad economy hit, their dealership went out of business, and that cleared the way for them to start Old World Beef Company.

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a faint saltiness, and a light bacon flavor. There's also a noticeable garlic too.

The chewing brings in a stronger bacon flavor along with a light natural meat flavor. There's a bit more saltiness, and a wee bit of black pepper.

For being marketed as a bacon flavored beef jerky, it seems to fit the bill. I do in fact get a good deal of bacon flavor from this. It actually tastes more like the Bac-Os salad toppings. But when combined with this light natural meat flavor, it seems to fit right in and turns this into a bacon-seasoned jerky, pretty much as advertised.

And that's largely the primary flavor of this jerky, the bacon seasoning with the light natural meat flavor. There is also a light garlic and onion that rises through and adds punch to the bacon.

The natural meat flavor in this is not as easy to detect than compared to Mike's Jerky's other flavors, but being familiar to this brand, I can find it. It has the same "roast beef" flavor that their other jerky varieties have, similar to the slices of deli meat.

The level of saltiness in this feels moderate, pretty much on par with most jerky brands.

There's no heat or spiciness to speak of, it's quite mild, though the garlic and onion might overwhelm those with sensitive palates.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, sliced very thin, and in small to medium sized slabs.

This is a dry jerky, with a dry surface feel. It's mostly brittle, though it still has some small degree of flexibility. But for the most part, it's crunchy. It's very easy to break pieces off, and very easy to chew.

The chewing texture starts out feeling dry and brittle with no chewing resistance. I get a good deal of crunch chewing a piece down, and its chews down to a soft mass very quickly with little effort. At that point it feels very much like a piece of roast beef deli cut, but a little more dry.

I can see several spots of fat on these slabs, but they offer no additional flavor and no additional chewing texture. I see no streaks of gristle or tendon, encountered no stringiness, and no unchewable tissues.

In terms of clean eating, these seem very clean. My fingers picked up no residue, though snapping off pieces dropped just minimal amounts of meat fragments and seasoning.

Snack Value

Mike's Jerky sells this Bacon variety from its website at a price of $15.00 for a 6oz package. If you bought 4 packages, the shipping works out to $6.95 if sent to Southern California. That comes to $2.79 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.79 per ounce price, it's a decent value. I'm getting a good deal of snackability for an overall good flavor, good meat consistency, and good chewing texture. Compared to other brands of jerky, the price is slightly higher, but seems to offer a better overall flavor and chewing experience.

As a bacon flavored jerky, at the same $2.79 per ounce price, it's a good value. I get a good deal of bacon seasoning flavor, and feel satisfied I'm getting what the labeling is promising.

Rating

I'm giving this a best rating.

This bacon flavored beef jerky from Mike's Jerky seemed to get better and better as I ate more and more. The great taste of bacon seemed to pair really well with the natural meat flavor that Mike's Jerky is known for, and then further enhanced by the garlic and onion and touches of black pepper.

At first, I was uncertain of the idea that this bacon flavor tastes like Bac-Os. But when I looked at it as bacon-seasoning, not necessarily real bacon, my attitude changed. It seemed like I was able to get more flavor out of this than eating bacon-wrapped steak.

The crunchiness and easy eating really enhances the chewing. This is a jerky for those who love thinly sliced, dry jerky.

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About Best Beef Jerky

I'm Steve Johnson, and I've been in the Internet marketing and publishing business since 1997. I've been a life-long fan of beef jerky and decided to merge my profession with my snack food of choice, and gave birth to Best Beef Jerky.

I review beef jerky, turkey jerky, bison jerky, pretty much any meat jerky, even vegan jerky. I review meat sticks, biltong, cecina, carne seca, it's all fair game as long as it's meat, it's dried, and it's a snack.